Ask Barry?

Hi Gang,
It's me Barry again. It's time for another round of Ask Barry? questions.
Ally Munson asks Barry Have you ever gone to a concert where you got invited on stage to perform with the artist you went to see?

Barry Yes I did get invited on stage. In May of this year Carly and I went to Philadelphia for a little weekend get away. What I didn't know was Carly had gotten tickets to see Tears For Fears at the Hoagie National Festival on Friday May 27th. We were sitting in section two row B. One of Tears For Fears people told the guys I was a huge fan of theirs and that I was in the audience. I got invited on stage at the end to sing their song Shout with them. When I got up there I told Roland and Curtis I could play the song on the piano. So I got to both play piano and sing on Shout with the guys. What a thrill that was.

Deborah Wilson asks Barry who are some of your favorite contemporary groups and singers?
Barry as for groups I like Aerosmith, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Fleetwod Mac, Foo Fighters, Genesis, Nickleback and U2. Female singers. Cyndi Lauper, Melissa Manchester, Anne Lenox, Carol King, Joni Mitchell, Roberta Flack, Bette Midler Bonnie Ratt and Stevie Nicks. Male singers Billy Joel, Richard Marx, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Bruce Hornsby, Darius Rucker James Taylor and Bruno Mars. I also liked Hootie and the Blowfish Darius Rucker's old group before he went country. Bruce Hornsby and the Range. Before Bruce went the solo jazz route. Then of course I love classical, jazz and standard singers. Like Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney and ETC.

Lorie Mann What's on your bucket list?
Barry What haven't I done that I want to do. I want to write original material with my favorite female singers/songwriter. Then take the songs we wrote and record a duets album. Do a concert in Central Park like Simon and Garfunkle. Garth Brooks, Diana Ross and other artists/groups have done. Take the Orient Express train from London England to Venice Italy.  Travel England and Scotland by train. My wife Carly loves to travel by train. So while were dating we took Amtrak up to Boston for vacation. That's how I got hooked on train travel. Carly also loves to fly on airplanes. Open up a few more 1943 British American Gastro Pubs her in the US and UK. I want to open them in Manhattan New York, Boston Massachusetts, Portland Oregon, Seattle Washington, Glasgow Scotland and London England. The flagship 1943 British American Gastro Pub in Williamsburg is doing very well. We got great reviews from Michelin, New York Times and Zagat. Michelin gave us five stars. So did the New York Times and Zagat.

To all my Southern California fans with all those wild fires please take care and keep safe.
Thinking of all of you.
Hugs,
Barry

Oh Really!

Barry and Garry got home at eleven pm. Soon after both Carly and Denise walked in the door. How was the show said Barry?  It was ok said Carly as she and Denise walked into the living room. OMG! is Brian Murphy skinny said Denise. You mean tooth pick legs said Barry. If a strong wind kicked up it would blow him away. Oh yeah said Garry Brian Murphy hates to eat yes tooth pick legs  Carly said. Jacqueline asked me and Denise what we were doing tomorrow night. I told her that me, Ally, Rita and Zoey were going to Barry's Because It's Christmas benefit at the Barclay Center. The benefit concert sold out within thirty minutes after the tickets went on sale. Kathy said no wonder I couldn't get tickets for me, Jacqueline, Kim, Shelly and Gillian.   On our way home Rita thought that was interesting that the others couldn't get tickets to tomorrow nights benefit concert. Shelly was telling members in the Facebook group she owns that she and her two friends were going to the benefit. Actually they don't have tickets.  Kathy said non of them had tickets for the benefit tomorrow night.
Good because they're always trying to get back stage when they come to my concerts said Barry. Marc, David and Now Eric have the task of making sure they don't get back stage. Knowing Shelly, Kim and Gillian they will be somewhere around the stage door to see Barry go inside. Who are these three women asked Denise? They're fans of Barry's said Carly. Shelly the group leader claims she, Kim and Gillian are BFF's with Barry, Bruce Sussman, Garry Kief and Marc Hulett. However they are not BFF's with any of them. I do know they are friends with Suzie, Rob Bruce's partner and Scott Nevins. Rob knows to keep his lips zipped on any thing that pertains to Barry. Rob says those women are so nosey that if they could  they would literally crawl inside my pants said Barry. Wouldn't they just loved to know what brand, fabric and style of men's underwear I wear. The only thing I will say is they're 100% cotton. Also I don't wear bikinis or thong style underwear. Barry's friend Denny who still lived in Palm Springs emailed him the Bruce Fessier article on Brian Murphy that appeared in the Friday December 8th Desert Sun life section under entertainment. It mentioned Brian's A Gift Of Love benefit shows at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Springs. There was also a little Q&A with Brian. Of course they asked Brian about a second Las Vegas residency. Since there was some hinting about it. He said Gregory Knofler (Brian's husband and manager) was getting ready to dot the I's and cross the T's. on the contract. Hopefully he would be back in Las Vegas at the Westgate (formerly the Las Vegas Hilton) Brian would be there Thursday thru Saturday. If he thinks he can just do the Las Vegas shows only. He's only fooling himself. Look what happened the last time. He played LV only in 2005. His fans who couldn't go complained. So starting in 2006 Brian had to do shows outside LV whenever he wasn't in LV. The other thing is that Brian's tickets are very expensive. Barry did see some photos of Brian Murphy's Chicago and Long Island concerts. Barry thought Brian's velvet jackets were tacky. Also his attempt at a tuxedo did quite look right on him. Brian does not know how to wear a tuxedo. Tonight was Barry's seventh annual Because It's Christmas benefit. Last year Barry was at Madison Square Garden for his annual benefit. Barry was aiming to do his two thousand eighteen eighth annual Because It's Christmas benefit at Carnegie Hall. He wanted to have the New York Philharmonic Orchestra on stage to perform with him. Barry's Because It's Christmas benefit went from 8pm to 11:30pm. A two hour concert with a half hour intermission and a one hour encore. Barry's concerts always ended up with encores. Barry Manilow's fans just couldn't get enough of him. so he would do encores for them. Barry went backstage after the regular ending. He quickly came back out and said "Lets start this benefit allover again." With that he took off his white jacket with black lapels and black vest. Barry went right into one of his hot numbers I'm Your Man. He ended the one hour encore with You're Looking Hot Tonight.

Getting Ready For Friday's Benefit Concert.

Barry was getting ready for his Because It's Christmas VII Benefit at the Barclay Center on Friday December 8th, He had sent the Grant Street Campus chorus the lyrics to Because It's Christmas, One Voice and It's A Miracle. Marc had sent Barry publicity photos of Brian Murphy's concert jackets for his A Brian Christmas and A Gift Of Love IV concerts. The color red seems to wash out Brian's face thought Barry. All of Brian's jackets except his white one were made of velvet with sparkles on them. Barry decided to go with an edgy tuxedo for Sunday nights benefit concert. The pants had zero stripe down the outer side of each leg. The vest had an embossed design on it. Black pants, black embossed, white tuxedo shirt, black vest, black tuxedo coat and black euro tie. The tuxedo coat was where in edginess came in. The hem was longer on one side a regular on the other side.  The tuxedo coat was just like the one he wore in nineteen ninety-nine. When he played Carnegie Hall on Monday March 8, 1999 for The Gay Men's Crisis Benefit. Barry had decided to open Friday's concert the same way he did that benefit. Barry came out flipped the tail of his tuxedo jacket sat down and played Chopin's Prelude In C Minor. Then he went into the romantic version of his song Could It Be Magic based on that Chopin prelude. Then later on he was going to do Could It Be Magic a second time. This would be Take That's up tempo version complete with BAMS. Barry was also putting together a NYC Rhythm, Brooklyn Blues, Williamsburg medley. Barry and Cyndi Lauper were going to duet on her song Time After Time and Baby It's Cold Outside. Barry had even picked out some Christmas song that would be played as the fans came in. Barry decided on a Thursday night to get together with Bruce, David, Eric, Jack, Garry, Marc and Rob for a little guy time. Fried chicken and bowling at the Brooklyn Bowl. Garry and Denise were coming into New York for the weekend starting Wednesday. They were going to stay at Barry and Carly's house till Monday. Carly had gotten suckered into going to Brian Murphy's Nassau Coliseum concert on Thursday night. Kathy had a ticket for Denise to go too. Gillian was supposed to go with them but she got the flu. Gillian was friends with Shelly and Kim. Jacqueline had invited Gillian, Shelly and Kim to go with her and Kathy, Carly Ally, Rita and Zoey.  Carly told Kathy she did not want to sit next to Shelly. Shelly, Kim and Gilliam claimed they were also friends with Suzie Barry's one time friend.. They too believed that Barry was gay and married to his former manager Garry. Barry basically paid those three women no attention. They told their friends that they were friends with Barry, Bruce, Garry and Marc. These women were not friends at all with Barry, Bruce, Garry and Marc. Barry had called Garry to tell him about Thursdays boys night out. He also told him that Denise would be going with Ally, Carly, Rita, Zoey, Jacqueline, Kathy, Shelly and Kim to see Brian Murphy's Thursday December 7th Nassau Coliseum concert. Gillian a friend of Shelly and Kim's was supposed to go. However she got sick. Garry said I'm sure Carly Ally, Rita and Zoey really wanted to go. Garry knew better that Carly and her BFF's didn't want to go. Barry wanted to get the Barclay Center for Thursday night. However Disney Tim Burton's The  Nightmare Before Christmas was there both Wednesday and Thursday nights. Chris Rock Saturday December 9th. Saturday night was comedian Chris Rock and Sunday was women's and men's basketball starting at one. So Barry had to take Friday night as it was open. Thursday's boys night out was great. Instead of eating fried chicken at the Brooklyn Bowl. The guys went to  Barry's eatery 1943 British American Gastro Pub. The guys loved the atmosphere which was a mix of British and American. Barry mentioned that his gastro pub served British ale and a few local micro brews from Brooklyn. No US beers like Budweiser, Coors, Old Milwaukee, Miller and ETC. Barry liked British ale but hated US beers. We even deep fry candy bars and have them on our desert menu. We deep fry Milky Way, Milky Way Caramel, Milky Way Dark, Snickers original with peanuts, Snickers with almonds and Snickers with hazelnuts. I had to get the address for the Mars candy company which makes the Snickers bar. Because a few costumers wanted to write the Mars candy company. So they could ask then to make their Snickers bar with cashews and Snickers bar with macadamia nuts. Deep fried candy bars was started in the UK. Heck they deep fry anything said Garry. Denise and I had deep fried cheese cake. That was a slice of cheese cake dipped in either milk or dark chocolate. After the chocolate hardens it's dipped in funnel cake batter. Then it's drizzled with chocolate ganache and whipped cream. Interesting said Bruce. I was at this bar down in Atlanta with Eric my personal assistant. We chose to eat our dinner at the bar. They put out free bar snacks. They take mixed nuts put them in a bowl. Then mixed the nuts with butter, tabasco sauce, garlic powder and onion powder. Spread them out on a baking sheet and bake them for forty-five minutes. They're so addictive.  So I snatched the recipe and put it on 1943's free snacks menu. We serve spicy mixed nuts and garlic cheddar popcorn as free snacks. Ground Round restaurants use to served peanuts in their shells or popcorn. It was to tied you over until your meal came. I'm addicted to mixed nuts said Barry. Carly on the other hand is addicted to assorted chesses and crackers. Triscuit crackers and cheese is Carly's go to snack. She likes their original, garden herb, thin crisps sour cream and chive and parmesan garlic. The only sweet she likes is ice cream. Carly did have a piece of wedding cake on our wedding day. That was the best cake ever said Jack. That's because our cake was made by Charm City Cakes Ace Of Cakes Duff Goldman. It was a four tiered two layered white cake with raspberry filling in between the layers of cake. The frosting was white whipped light butter cream.  The roses on the cake were made with pureed raspberries mixed in to the white frosting. Carly knows I like raspberry torte. So that was what our cake was a raspberry torte four tiered wedding cake.  Carly actually wanted to elope however she had never been married. I told her I wanted her to have her dream wedding. Every bride has their dream wedding so should you. Which she did have her dream wedding. After we got back from our Montreal and Quebec honeymoon. Carly went back to  Kleinfeld's Bridal store. Carly wanted to show Audrey, Randy, Dorothy and Nicole photos from our wedding. None of them got to see Carly's finished Hayley Paige custom wedding dress. Carly told them my tuxedo was by Joseph Abboud. In fact I have seven pairs of the black loafers I wore on my wedding day. The reason I have that many is because the other pairs I wear when I'm in concert. They're a very stylish shoe that goes perfect with my dresser concert attire.

The Coming Week

Tuesday December 5th Brian Murphy was back in Chicago to ply Allstate Arena. Then Thursday December 7th it was Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. That was for his A Very Brian Christmas.
Now Barry was in rehearsals for his Because It's Christmas VII Benefit at the Barclay Center on Sunday December 10th. This was the seventh year for this benefit. The charities that would benefit this year would be Charlie's Rescue, Manilow Music Project and The One Voice Foundation. Barry loved the fall and winter months. That's why he was glad he came back to the east coast where they had all four seasons spring, summer, autumn and winter. Barry had relearned how to ice skate so he could skate at the Rockefeller Center and Central Park skating rinks. He also missed a good cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows on top. This would be his sixth Christmas with Carly. Now earlier this autumn Barry their roof checked to see if it would make though the winter. The contractor told him that there were a few place where their roof might leak. So he had the contractor put a new roof on. This was the guy who had done all of the remodeling work to the house. Kitchen, master bathroom, kitchen downstairs and the bathroom downstairs. Barry chose a slate grey metal roof that definitely  would go with their red brick town house. Every year Barry had the furnace and air conditioning checked to make sure they ran properly. Before he moved into the house in  October two thousand two the former owner had the house rewired. That was to get rid of any wiring that was not up to code. The house on Hicks street was a house that Barry was never going to leave. Barry was three blocks from the subway stop. Close to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade which went along side the New York harbor. Barry loved to go running around the Promenade in the warmer months. Close enough he could walk to the Barclay Center. Close to his favorite bagel/coffee shop and pizza parlor. Lots of other great shops and restaurants he could walk to. He did have to use his SUV when he went to certain places. Or if he wanted to outside the city for a drive or a road trip by car. This was way better than Palm Springs. Every time he wanted to go somewhere. He had to go into his garage get into his SUV and drive to where he wanted to go. Nothing was within walking distance not even a dog park. Here in Brooklyn Heights a lot of stuff was within walking distance for him. Barry had even bicycled from his house in Brooklyn Heights to Bruce and Rob's condominium in Tribeca. Barry go a call from Bruce before he went on his four city Hurricane Nate benefit concerts. Bruce called Barry to let him know what happened to his iMac desktop computer. That it exploded in their condominium and they had to have new wiring put in. The electrician that Bruce got told him iMac's were just worthless pieces of junk. Bruce said the electrician told him to get a HJP Omen 800-035VX computer. Said his son swore by them. They were mainly used by gaming developers and people who liked to play games on their computers. But that their were musicians in the music business who had discovered them too. Bruce told Barry  that his iMac just literally explode. Bruce's tech guy also told him iMac's were basically a piece of junk.Then the same thing that happened to Bruce also happened to Barry after he got home. His iMac exploded and part of the  house had to have new wiring put in. Barry had just about had it with Apple products. Five years ago Barry's iPhone 5 died after just one month. Barry took it back to where he bought it. He was told by the phone guy at Verizon that he had a lemon. The Verizon phone guy told Barry to go with a Samsung brand instead. Barry got himself a Samsung Galaxy S3 in November of 2012. He traded that in for a Galaxy Note 5 in August 2015. So Garry's friend Dean had gone to South Korea on a vacation. While he was there he bought himself a Samsung 2017 Veyron flip phone. Samsung had brought back the flip phones from the nineties with their Veyron flip phone. Barry got to see Garry's Samsung Veyron flip phone. Garry explained it had all the features of the other types of Samsung phones. The only difference was it was a flip phone. He told Barry Dean had to go back to South Korea and he would get Barry one. Barry had finally given up on Apple products. Barry knew Carly never had any Apple products. Apple computers were very different than a typical PC like Dell and HP. Carly had always used HP products. That was the brand the Bronx Zoo exclusively used. Last year her old HP Pavilion computer died. So she chose to get an
HP ENVY 750-V9B24 desktop computer. Then just this past October her laptop died. She replaced it with a HP Spectre X360 laptop.  Barry went to a message board where this fan Shelly told everyone he used iMac's and iPhone's only. Barry replied and said I don't use iMac's or iPhone's anymore. I switched to HP computers and Samsung cell phones. I have a HP Omen 870-255xt desktop and an HP Omen 17 inch Laptop. I just got a new 2017 Samsung Veyron flip phone. This Samsung phone
is not available here in the US. Garry Kief's friend Dean Henry is a pilot for Delta. While he was on layover in South Korea last month he bought a Samsung Veyron for himself and Garry. Dean told Garry the next time he went to South Korea he'd buy me one. So by the end of this week I should have my Samsung Veyron flip phone. I can't wait to get it.

Because It's Christmas Benefit.

Don't forget next Sunday December 10th my Because It's Christmas Benefit Barclay Center 8PM. The Because It's Christmas Benefit benefits Charlie's Rescue animal shelter, The Manilow Music Project and The One Voice Foundation (Giving a voice to animals who don't have one)  It's at the Barclay Center. I'm having my dear friend Cyndi Lauper as one of my special guests. Remember Baby It's Cold Outside. Hint! Hint! The other is The Grant Street Campus Chorus. Who will duet with me on Because it's Christmas. The Grant Street Campus Chorus consists of students from The High School for Enterprise, Business and Technology, Progressive High School for Professional Careers and The High School for Legal Studies. These schools were started in nineteen ninety seven after my alma mater Eastern District High School closed it's doors n nineteen ninety six.
See you fans there.
Barry

My Dear Friend Mundell Lowe

It is with a heavy heart that I let you know my dear friend James Mundell Lowe passed away Saturday December 2, 2017. Mundell as he was better known played with a lot of great artists.
Back in 1984 I asked Mundell Lowe to play on my first album. It was a jazz album called 2:00AM Paradise Café. I had also asked drummer Shelly Manne, basest George Duvivier, saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and keyboard/pianist Billy Mays to play on the album. I then invited  jazz vocalists Mel Torme (The Velvet Fog) and Sarah Vaughan to sing duets on the album with me. Sarah and did a duet on Blue and Mel and did a duet on Big City Blues. Shelly, George, Mundell, Gerry and Billy had never played together and they were very excited to do so. "The entire albumwas rehearsed for three days, then recorded live (in one take) without overdubs at Westlake Studio "C" in Los Angeles California in 1984. All of us who took part in the recording of this album were surprised when it did so well. This is your first foray into being a recording artist. Your first record album goes quadruple platinum and lands at number one on Billboards Hot 200 Album Chart. Then stays at number one for three straight months. Goes on further to win  Grammy's for Album Of The Year (200AM Paradise Café)  Barry Manilow artist/producer, Michael Brawnstein engineer Deni King and Greg Laney co-engineers. Record Of The year (2:00AM Paradise Café)  Song Of The Year (When October Goes) Barry Manilow music Johnny Mercer lyrics. Best Jazz Vocal Album (2:00AM Paradise Café) Barry Manilow. Four Grammy Awards for my first ever record album. I sang my song When October Goes and I did Big City Blues with Mel Torme on the nineteen eighty five Grammy Awards. Wow!! What a thrill. Thanks to all of you my dear ones for making  2:00AM Paradise Café such a huge success.
Barry

I Heard A Rumor About You.

I am bringing this to everyone's attention because of the content of the quote that I am quoting. One of my fans I don't know posted this under a photo of me that another one of my fans Debra Swartz had posted on Pinterest. "One friend told the Daily Mail Online that Kief is something of a Svengali to Manilow and he has pushed people out of the multi-millionaire life and replaced then with his own relatives over the years. This quote from the Daily Mail is entirely false. Garry Kief my former manager has never pushed anyone out of my life. Then replaced them with his own relatives. I met Garry Kief back in nineteen seventy eight. That's when I found out the guy who was taking care of my finances was putting my money into bad investment. Garry was the one who noticed this first. He helped with my financial problem. So I fired Miles Laurie my manager and hired Garry to take over as my manager. Garry put together a group of people to help me financially and legally. That is how I became friends with Garry Kief. Garry was married to his first wife who I also became friends with. The director of my fan club Kate Naughton had been screwed over by my manager Miles Laurie. So that's why Kate Naughton  stepped down as director of my fan club. Both Robert and Alice Garry's parents were retired so they took over running my fan club. That's how I became friends with Robert and Alice Kief. Garry's older brother Rob Kief starting working for his brothers new management company Stiletto Entertainment. Garry and his first wife asked me to be godfather to their daughter Kirsten I said yes to being Kirsten's godfather. Robert and Alice Kief when Alice became the new director of the Barry Manilow Fan Club. In nineteen eighty my fan club went international so people all over the world could join. Alice decided to continue using the name Kate Naughton when she became director of my fan club. Robert came up with the name Mad Man Mickey Morgan when he took over the merchandise company. That was how I became friends with Garry's parents. Garry's older brother Rob also works for Garry's management company Stiletto Entertainment. That's how I became friends with Robert, Alice, Rob, his wife, sons, Garry, his wife and daughter. If people were pushed out of my life it's because I pushed them out. Case in point my once friend Suzie whom you all know is not in my life right now. In two thousand two I decided to move back to New York City. Too much back and forth on Delta Airlines between Los Angeles LAX and New York City JFK because of my Broadway songwriting career. Suzie did not like the fact that I moved back to New York City. Also since day one back in nineteen seventy-eight when I met Suzie. She always figured that I was gay even though I wasn't. At the end of January two thousand and fifteen. Suzie did two articles for The National Enquire tabloid. The articles were to promote her latest health book. The
first article two pages came out on Friday January 25th.The  second article a week later came out on Friday January 30th. On Friday February 6th I made the inside of The National Enquirer. It was a two page spread on me and my former manager Garry Kief getting married in our Palm Springs backyard in April 2015 Brian Murphy was living in my former house in the Mesa at that time. So that's when
Brian  and his partner Gregory Knofler got married. Suzie told The National Enquirer all the juicy details. Why? Because according to her she was my best woman which is the same as the best man. She was also on Andy Cohen's Bravo talk show. Where she told this person who called in to ask if the Copacabana singer got married. That she was there and that it was so freeing for me. I am not the Copacabana singer. I am one of the songwriters of the song Copacabana. Brian Murphy recorded  the song Copacabana that me, Bruce and Jack wrote. Bruce , Jack and I originally wrote Copacabana for our musical of the same name which opened on Broadway in 1978. Brian Murphy then recorded a disco version of our song Copacabana n 1978 for his Even Now album that I produced with Ron Dante. Back in 2014 I did get married. That was on Sunday July 13, 2014 to my fiancé Dr. Carly Nichole Simon DVM. I'm mentioning her full name because of singer Carly Simon. Garry and I often wondered who went to The National Enquirer with that information. When we both found out it was Suzie who gave them that piece of information. Garry immediately told me he was through being friends with Suzie. He said If I still wanted to continue being friends with Suzie that he would be ok with that. I don't like anyone who spreads lies about me. Since Suzie chose to spread the lie about me being gay when I'm not. I decided she wasn't worth my still being friends with her. One I moved back to New York City in two thousand two I broke off my friendship with her. At that same time I also quit being friends with one of Suzie's other friends Scott Nevins. As you all know Scott Nevins has the major hot's for me. Scott's been trying for year to get me into a romantic relationship with him. No thank you. I remember on my wedding day my cousin Dennis said to me Aunt Edna would have been proud to have a nice Jewish girl like Carly for a daughter-in-law. After I got married to Carly that's when she told me she had met my mom. Carly, Ally, Rita and Zoey went to see my mom's cabaret act at Don't Tell Mama's  in New York. Carly mentioned she and her friends got to meet my mom after that show. Carly told me my mom asked her and her fiends if they were married. Ally said she Rita and Zoey were married and I was not. My mom said I wish my son Barry would find a nice girl like you. Maybe I should fix you two up said my mom. Ally then told my mom that Carly was a nice orthodox Jewish girl. My mom said now I'll definitely have to fix you two up. If she only knew her wish came true. That I met Carly the nice orthodox Jewish girl and I married her. Now back to regular Barry M stuff.